The commercials are playing, people are commenting on fashion choices, and die-hard fans are getting into online arguments over what should win what. It can only mean one thing: award season!
The Globes are done (ummm, just sign up Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for everything, OK?), Sundance is under way (not technically an award show but winning at Sundance is a pretty good indicator of future success. See Jennifer Lawrence), and the Oscars are next month.
So what are your favourites this season? Lincoln? Or do you prefer your drama set against the musical backdrop a la Les Miserables? Speaking of signing up for everything, just give Anne Hathaway all the awards. Seriously. If the amount of tears shed by audience members equals the amount of hardware someone goes home with, she should actually get all the awards for all time.
Regardless of your picks, I hope you're enjoying this year's round of industry kudos as much as I am!
Happy creating!
Tonya
Showing posts with label Sundance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sundance. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
State of the Union | Sundance Institute
An excellent commentary on the state of indie film. I admit this post is little behind the times as this panel took place in July. For my lateness in posting, I apologize but regardless of the timeliness of it, this is a great read. Again, Sundance, you rock.
State of the Union | Sundance Institute
Happy creating!
State of the Union | Sundance Institute
Happy creating!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
The rise of the indie...again?
From everything I've heard, Sundance this year was a bit different. It was still celebration of the indie film but what was great was the distribution deals. Yeah, you read that right. Indie films got distribution deals. Perhaps you're thinking: "But, Tonya, it's Sundance. It's a festival dedicated to the independent film. Of course, indie films got some deals" and you'd be right. Here's the difference: the number of deals and the fact the they made sense for filmmakers.
Don't get me wrong. The films had to be exceptional with a clear target audience. Distributors were looking for films that had majority of the work done for them. Great script. Great acting. Beautifully shot. And, most importantly, laser focused on a specific audience. Why is this important? It's makes marketing a film much easier and way more affordable.
This is something I've been an advocate for since I started producing and looking at possible scripts to film. When I read something, I go through it a few times, looking for different things each time. First, I make sure that I just plain old like it. If I don't get involved in the story, it's more than likely no one else will either. On the next reading, I start formulating an idea of who is going to watch it and letting that add to the tone of the script. Something geared for teenagers looks way different on screen then something made for women aged 25 to 40. On the third go through, I start thinking marketing and different ways of selling the film. This could include merchandise, events, and how to introduce the film to my intended audience.
Then I start the math. Yes, math. I may be an artist first and foremost but when I wear my producer hat, I look at numbers. Luckily, it's mostly just adding and subtracting with only a few ratios thrown in. If I can't figure out how to make a film profitable, how can I possibly convince anyone with money that they should invest? Maybe I'm just too honest a person but I just don't feel right asking people to throw their money away.
And after all that fun is done, the work really begins in trying to get someone, anyone, everyone interested enough in the project to lend a hand. That could include investing or just committing to work on set. This takes years. Seriously. "Good Will Hunting" took ten years to get into production because of Matt and Ben's determination to star. They needed to get a name attached to make the film so it took years of shopping it around before a little actor by the name of Robin Williams signed on. And movie history was made.
Filmmaking and the entire entertainment biz is a risky one. But if we do our best to eliminate the risks we have some control over and prepare for as many eventualities as we can, it is possible to get a film made that is artistic, stunning, and profitable--otherwise known as distributable. Thanks Sundance, for renewing my faith.
Happy creating!
Don't get me wrong. The films had to be exceptional with a clear target audience. Distributors were looking for films that had majority of the work done for them. Great script. Great acting. Beautifully shot. And, most importantly, laser focused on a specific audience. Why is this important? It's makes marketing a film much easier and way more affordable.
This is something I've been an advocate for since I started producing and looking at possible scripts to film. When I read something, I go through it a few times, looking for different things each time. First, I make sure that I just plain old like it. If I don't get involved in the story, it's more than likely no one else will either. On the next reading, I start formulating an idea of who is going to watch it and letting that add to the tone of the script. Something geared for teenagers looks way different on screen then something made for women aged 25 to 40. On the third go through, I start thinking marketing and different ways of selling the film. This could include merchandise, events, and how to introduce the film to my intended audience.
Then I start the math. Yes, math. I may be an artist first and foremost but when I wear my producer hat, I look at numbers. Luckily, it's mostly just adding and subtracting with only a few ratios thrown in. If I can't figure out how to make a film profitable, how can I possibly convince anyone with money that they should invest? Maybe I'm just too honest a person but I just don't feel right asking people to throw their money away.
And after all that fun is done, the work really begins in trying to get someone, anyone, everyone interested enough in the project to lend a hand. That could include investing or just committing to work on set. This takes years. Seriously. "Good Will Hunting" took ten years to get into production because of Matt and Ben's determination to star. They needed to get a name attached to make the film so it took years of shopping it around before a little actor by the name of Robin Williams signed on. And movie history was made.
Filmmaking and the entire entertainment biz is a risky one. But if we do our best to eliminate the risks we have some control over and prepare for as many eventualities as we can, it is possible to get a film made that is artistic, stunning, and profitable--otherwise known as distributable. Thanks Sundance, for renewing my faith.
Happy creating!
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